Exclusive: XV Talks New Projects, “Not A Fan” Of The “New Era” Of Female Rappers

Donavan “XV” Johnson is the perfect ambassador for Wichita, Kansas. The Midwest city is not necessarily known for its Hip-Hop scene, but the 26-year-old rhymer hailing from “the air capital of the world” might just be the one to place his city on the musical map.

At age 15, Johnson began pursuing a music career, naming himself XV—in honor of his Roman numeral age at the time—the young rhymer didn’t start taking his aspirations seriously until the death of a high school friend. Since 2006 he has dropped well over a dozen mixtape, and landed himself a deal with Warner Bros.  Records, in 2010.

Even with the backing of a major label, XV is still lacing fans with new content, dropping his Popular Culture mixtape earlier this month. Much like the cover art, filled with images of Willy Wonka,  Kanye West, Snooki and Dwight from The Office, and more, XV’s music is reflective of his interests. Tracks such as “Aahh! Real Monsters” and “Stone Cold (3:16),” showcase his love for wrestling, and cartoons, but beneath the offerings lauded by 80’s babies, is quality content, which he hopes to bring to a larger audience by way of his forthcoming Awesome EP.

In our exclusive interview, XV broke down that elusive Popular Culture cover, his EP, and explained why he’s not into Iggy Azalea and Azealia Banks.

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Photo: Diverse Hip Hop

How does Popular Culture differ from your other work?

Popular Culture is the first project that I actually did literally from beginning to end. When I say “I did that,” I created the track list, the cover, I made the concept, and I really wanted to make a project that was like a musical. You get the interludes and you get a feel of me narrating with my raps, throughout the whole project.

Do the figures on the Popular Culture cover mean something to you, or did you place them there for everyone else?

It’s crazy because when I made it, I chose those people because it meant something to me and it meant something to what the project was, but until it came out I never noticed how much that affected so many people’s childhood. We all watched those shows, we all grew up on Nickelodeon, we all grew up on Martin. I’m just a dude from Wichita, Kansas, but I can relate to somebody from New York, to somebody from Long Beach, it’s crazy!

What is the rap scene like in Wichita?

A lot of people wonder what would a rap scene be like in Kansas, period. Now that I’ve traveled and done shows in Nebraska, or done shows in Idaho [or] Iowa, I’ve realized that there’s nothing really different between a Wichita, Kansas and an Oklahoma City. It’s all really about the fact that a lot of people don’t get to know where we’re from. They don’t get to turn on the television to see what Wichita, Kansas looks like, like you get with New York City or Atlanta, Miami. It’s actually better because we can create our own world through our music. You have artists like me who are like a gamers, I’m more lyrical, but you also have a trap artists and the artists who are more Southern. It’s cool because you can do anything in this realm.

Is it risky, to not have a signature sound?

Definitely, music is about culture. One thing I will say about me being from the Midwest and representing the Midwest, I’m perfect because I’m a people person. A lot of people from the Midwest are like that, so I feel like even though we’re not tied down to a specific sound, the story is the same. We all come from the same story.

 You have a record with Schoolboy Q, and a freestyle over Kendrick Lamar’s “The Recipe,” who are some of the newer rappers that you like?

Definitely a fan of ScHoolboy Q…Kendrick Lamar, that’s the homie. Same with J. Cole, all of us have been coming up together so it’s been crazy being a fan of these artists that are growing up in front of everybody now. I’ve been listening to them since before that, so I would say Kendrick…I would also say Wiz [Khalifa]. Wiz has been somebody I’ve been a fan of since 2005. He was somebody I reached out to before I signed my deal because he was signed to Warner, when I met him. I’m a big fan of what Wiz is doing, we just rocked a big festival together in Kansas City so it’s crazy to see both of us on that plateau, coming up together. I also mess with this kid, Joey Badass. I just found out about him like three days ago. I think he’s like 18 or 19, or younger, but the kid’s vocabulary, with the rhymes, are crazy.

What about new school female rappers like Azealia Banks and Iggy Azalea?

I’ll put it like this, I grew up in the era where I feel like female rappers were really, really, good. Lil’ Kim, Foxy [Brown], I remember Queen Pen, I remember Lady of Rage, I remember all of those people. At that time, rap was just rap, and it’s weird to see rap now where Nicki Minaj comes out and she kind of has her own lane. I feel like every artist that comes out has to be [like] her, or be better. Back then, Queen Pen, Lil’ Kim, Foxy , Lady of Rage, MC Lyte, those are five different  artists, but they were all out at the same time. I feel like I came up in a time of that, I’m not a fan of the new era of it, just because I don’t feel like anybody is bringing anything new to the table. A lot of it just reminds me of Nicki, and Nicki’s already f—-ing dope!

The ones that are on the pedestal right now are the ones that I’m not interested in. There are some really, really  dope ones that don’t get heard and that’s what the problem is. Even Lola Monroe, who’s up on the pedestal, I feel like she has her own lane [but] she’s what I would say is another evolution of what Nicki Minaj is doing  as far as like a Lil’ Kim and Foxy Brown comparison. But there’s this girl Uzoy from Houston who’s really dope. There this [rapper Nitty Scott] I met her at the BET cypher, and Rapsody’s  hella dope. But like I said none of these artists are on a plateau, so I feel like I don’t get fed those artists like I did back when I was listening to Queen Pen, and Queen Pen was on Blackstreet records. You feel me?

What can we expect from your Awesome EP?

The Awesome EP is a mainstream introduction to my music. To a wider audience that hasn’t been on the Internet for the past five years, I been releasing mixtapes. I got Pusha T  featured on it, and I worked with my frequent collaborator Seven on it. It’s kind of a mixture of records from my last year’s mixtape, Zero Heroes and a few records I was making for my debut album, The Kid With The Green Backpack. So it’s a great introduction to what my debut album is going into.

Do you feel any pressure to follow what other people are doing to get commercial success?

Not exactly because I know who I am as a person, and I write my own lyrics, I pick out my own beats, I come up with my own concepts. So me knowing who I am a person, even if it’s the most poppiest song ever, it’s gonna still be the essence of XV, and what I stand for. There’s nothing that’s gonna ever make me say something that I don’t believe in.

What is your dream collaboration?

My dream collaboration would definitely be between Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, I would love to work with him, and Andre 3000.

Do you think Andre 3000 will ever drop a new album?

I definitely think he’s going to release another album, and it’s going to change the face of the planet. That’s what I think!